Are you looking for a place to stay in Cedar Key with your horse? Finding a place to stay in Florida while traveling with your horse has never been easier. You're sure to find the perfect site for your Florida horse camping excursion.
MAG1
$20 / night
The Holder Mine Campground campsites are shaded by live oaks and turkey oaks. This campground is open seven days a week and is popular with hunters during archery and small game seasons.
Features
Hiking trails:
Facilities 27 campsites with electricity, water, picnic table and fire ring (2) bathhouses Pavilion Dump station
Note: Pavilion is only available for use for a fee by paid campers.
$9 - $20 / night
Ross Prairie Trailhead and Campground
$22 / night
Located about 15 minutes outside of historic Dunnellon it’s a nice easy drive to the Rainbow River great for tubing, kayaking, boating, snorkeling or paddle boarding. Crystal River and Homosassa nearby for great waterfront dining and swimming with the manatees. Not far from Ocala for the horse lovers and Gainesville for shopping, dining and more. Don’t forget the Goethe State Forest directly across the street with 120 miles of trails for hiking, biking and of course horseback riding. Also nearby many other trailheads for a perfect day trip. A quiet and peaceful country atmosphere where time slows down and your worries wither away. 73 double sized grassy sites all with full hook ups, we also have two rentals available. Beautiful, sparkling, clear pool that’s great to beat the summer heat! 96 lined and covered box stalls, 9 turn out paddocks 3 private play pasutres, a round pen and an arena that’s lighted dusk till dawn. Pet friendly with dog park, Wi-Fi available. Designated campfire area. Clean and comfortable bathhouse with toilets and hot showers.
$10 - $95 / night
SHANGRI-LA LOOP
$18 / night
$10 / night
$10 - $15 / night
$25 - $50 / night
Wildflower Ranch is situated on 20 acres and offers two private tent campsites and one private cabin. We are dog friendly, and have fencing around the entire property. Campers have a flushing toilet and potable water available.
Wildflower Ranch is close to dozens of crystal clear natural springs and rivers, bike trails, hiking trails, state parks, and more. We are ideally located in North Central Florida, so many of your Florida outdoor bucket list adventures are within reach.
Grab eggs from the coop and produce from the garden to enjoy in the morning with breakfast. Go for a nearby adventure on or in the water in the afternoon, and come back to enjoy the starry night sky. Thanks to our rural setting, we have some of the darkest skies in Florida.
$25 - $35 / night
Traveler
Park staff as always super friendly and happy to great campers. Stayed in Hickory Loop which was quiet. Bathrooms ample and clean. Walk to the springs was a short one from our site 74. You will definitely see some manatee but swimming up close is a no no. The springs themselves are cold and dark and look better in pictures(at least this time of year) on a hot summer day could be refreshing. Having bikes or kayaks would have added to the fun. They do rent a tandem kayak around $50 for 2 hours. Brings cash to the concession to avoid paying card fee of a few dollars per transaction. Night walks down to the pier are a must.
ScoutI have trouble walking. I'm at site 38 and no handicap parking for showers. The shower doors and walls are nasty. Also, where I parked with 2 dogs. Was nothing more than a pile of dirt. Both are filthy after 5 days. I was also told that the station had no handicap parking for showers?
ScoutPeaceful secluded campsites. Most have a wooded buffer. There are full hookup sites available. We stayed in site 33. Sites have fire ring and picnic tables.
Scout
Had no problems, calm and cool surroundings.
Traveler
This is a great spot! There’s two camping areas, one off of North Dee and one off of Hooty Point. It’s primitive/equestrian camping and Hooty Point is far better in my opinion because it has water access for fishing.
I stayed at the North Dee Road site and it was still great despite not having immediate access for fishing. First off, it’s free to reserve, and then the campgrounds comes with a firepit, bench, and non-potable water. This was my test run for starting to camp again and I don’t think I could’ve picked a better place.
GuideOnly here Two days. Nice little quick stop.
TravelerStayed on site 22, cell service was very bad, no laundry, only stayed two nights to check the park out, very small store, gravel bumpy road in campground, would stay here again if I was passing through area
TravelerThe springs are amazing and full of wildlife. The manatees will only be in the springs early in the morning or later at night as they go out to the river to eat during the day. The campsite was made of small gravel so it took a little while to get the tent stakes in, but no other complaints. Facilities were clean and well stocked. Some of the wildlife seemed especially comfortable in the campsites. It rained while we were there and a few armadillos hung out under our tarp overhang and a large group of deer slept maybe 15 feet from our side. We didn’t have any issues with the animals, they were just a cute addition to the experience. The concessions and kayak rentals were open so the contract issue a few reviews mentioned must have been resolved.
Traveler
ROACHES ROACHES ROACHES (not palmetto bugs german ROACHES)
TravelerQuite possibly my most favorite camp site. The hikes are fun and the water is just gorgeous. I haven’t seen manatees yet in my travels here but many others have! Great spot. Clean. Quiet. Fun.
GuideOnly 14 spaces, so very small, but nice. Lots of space between sites. Lots of Hike, bike horse trails are very nice and easy to navigate. Very clean bathroom/showers. The only negative is that it's not far from the raid, you can hear the traffic and it's somewhat busy.
GuideBeautiful swimming and kayaking.
ScoutCampgrounds are nice. Sites are a little small. More tent campers than RV. Bathrooms in good shape. Magnolia 1 loop has sewer hookup. We were site 029 pull through with a 34ft TT. Awesome site No cell coverage period. You'll get 1 bar to tease you and think you can do something. NO TV antenna coverage either. One radio station (98.5). We just downloaded a few Netflix movies and watch them on the computer. Spring is nice, hiking and biking trails are nice. Lots of wildlife.
TravelerThis place is beautiful. While there ddogs are not allowed on the boardwalk or in the swimming area- there are other hikes they can go on and they turn a blind eye to dogs wading in the boat ramp area as long as they are on leash. Note that not all sites allow you to park in the site. This was a little inconvenient because I was in a rooftop tent and had to pitch it on the other side of a barrier. There were other sites that had better configuration for that so take a look at site layouts as they are not all uniform. No reception, though- which was disappointing as I planned to work remote from the campsite and ended up having to log on from the nearby Walmart parking lot instead. Scenery not as good…
ScoutOnly 14 sites but are spaced far apart and are large.
TravelerWell maintained campground with clean facilities and showers. Campgrounds are in walking distance to the river where there's a boardwalk, kayaking and swimming. I saw manatees and lots of birds.
GuideNice, spacious, semi-private spots. Great spot to see wildlife.
Traveler
Big paved spaces with plenty of room. Nice clean bathrooms!
The area in front of the bathroom was a bit sandy, so be sure to bring flip flops so you don’t get the inside of your car all sandy!!
Absolutely no signal on T-Mobile
GuideHolder Mine Campground, Withlacoochee State Forest is a small campground with mostly shaded sites, but little vegetation between campsites. A few of the sites have enough spacing to provide some elbow room. There are some nice hiking trails just to the west of the campground that can be enjoyed when the weather is cooler. The campground is gated and is opened using the gate code included in the reservation confirmation. The bathhouse is clean with hot showers.
GuideManatee Springs seems to have been my family’s de facto go-campground for 40 years. Great campsites, trails, swimming spring, kayaking and canoeing, boardwalks, and the wildlife, oh my word the wildlife. Go in the winter and you’re sure to see manatees, other times of the year you’ll encounter deer, tortoises, otters, wild cats, birds, and more. In July ‘22 they were installing a cell phone booster so that should fix the historical no signal issues in the park. Can’t recommend this park more. Magnolia Loop 1 has tighter spaces but has full hookups. Magnolia Loop 2 has much larger sites but with only water and electric (30 and 15 amp).
ScoutWas told they had no open spots, when we checked online ahead of time. Poor management, judgemental and profiling. Would never go back.
ScoutConfirmed that there was open spots online. When we got there the the lady who managed the check-in and out totally lied to us and said they had no open spots, told her we checked online beforehand, then miraculously a spot opened, but we didn't stay.. judgemental and profiling people managing check-ins. Would never go back.
TravelerThe wi-fi was limited and practically nonexistent. Rangers were very nice, bathrooms were clean. Check reservations when checking in because we have a 35 foot travel trailer and they tried to out us in a tent spot.
GuideA quirky little place. The positive is that the sites, especially around the outside loop, are spaced nicely and private. It’s not a bad drive to Crystal River or Ocala. The bathroom, although not particularly convenient to the sites, is newly remodeled. And there are biking and hiking trails right at the campground. However the layout is somewhat funky and the road noise is bad. I suggest a site as far from the road as possible, 3 seemed like the best site to me. Also, this is now a Florida state park, but you wouldn’t know it. Seems a bit of an identity crisis between the state park, state forest and greenway that goes by here.
Legend
Agree with pretty much everything described in the previous review.
Sites are about $9 or 11/night (don't remember), but with taxes and fees came to a little over $13. There are 3 sites here, all a nice distance away from each other. Has a park like feel, lots of grass and trees.
Each site has a horse corral, garbage bin, picnic table, and a lump on the ground for a fire. You don't need to have a horse to camp here. We put our lab in the corral.
Lots of ticks here, beware!
Some unsavory daytime activity here, but they kept to themselves in the day use are and overall there was nothing that made us feel we needed to leave. A sheriff drove through one of the days we were there.
Some hiking in the area but everything was so overgrown and ticky we just stuck to the roads to walk the dogs.
There was a toilet some distance away from the sites.
Good cell reception.
Agree with previous review to take the right side at the y when entering.
LegendWe liked this campground a lot. With taxes and fees and the $7 RV surcharge (at all Florida State Parks) it came to about $30/night for full hookups.
Poor / spotty cell service in park, but there's free wifi at the concession stand. Concession stand was closed when we were there but there was still ok wifi that reached outside.
Boardwalk and swimming in the springs was open, but we didn't see where to rent kayaks or buy anything, not sure if those are closed for COVID. Boardwalk was really cool and long and we saw a couple of manatees.
Free hot showers. No laundry machines. No trash bins in park, all trash must be taken to dumpsters near park entrance.
TravelerNice quite area with plenty of fishing and exploring to be had. Individual spots are private enough and portable toilets are around in plenty.
Florida offers a fantastic experience for horse camping enthusiasts, with a variety of campgrounds that cater to both equestrians and their horses.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Cedar Key, FL?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Cedar Key, FL is Manatee Springs State Park Campground with a 4.3-star rating from 68 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Cedar Key, FL?
TheDyrt.com has all 12 equestrian camping locations near Cedar Key, FL, with real photos and reviews from campers.
